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Maasthi In The Forest

 

I am from Mangalore, a small city in the southern state of Karnataka. Most of the outskirts of the city is covered with farms and dense forests of the Western ghats.

This incident happened to my grandfather when he was in his 20's. One day after attending a religious event called as "bhoota kola" he was heading back home. Bhoota kola is an event usually happens during the evening hours and continues until late night. So by the time he left the ceremony it was 1am.

Even though many relatives asked him to stay back for the night, he decided to head home with a torch. He has to pass through a forest path to reach his home which was more of a shortcut. He took that route which was his usual route.

Halfway into the forest while walking he felt something walking behind him and heard sounds of anklets. It sounded as if someone was running very fast towards him and stopping right behind him as he felt mild breeze on his back. The thing started intensifying and my grandfather knew what it was. In Tulu culture we call it "Maasthi" basically a wandering spirit. He then immediately removed his clothes and got naked and urinated (it is believed that when you encounter a spirit you should do this particular thing as it is believed that it is an indication that we aren't scared of the spirit) then he saw a tree we call it "kaayerda Marra" (strychnos tree) which has religious significance and said to keep spirits away. He pulled a long branch and kept cursing the spirit vulgarly and swinging the branch all the way back home. After this incident he never takes that path.

Thank you I have many such stories and personal experiences. Please let me know if you want me to write those.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, KaushikBhandary, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

_Anonymous_ (1 posts)
+3
3 years ago (2021-08-12)
The practice of peeing to ward off certain types of evils (temporarily) is prevalent all over the Indian subcontinent, though very few know about it. I myself tried it twice or thrice & it worked everytime. I know it sounds extremely weird & filthy but it has worked for me & others I suggested. I read it in some internet article too.
DarriuxDarkk (6 stories) (80 posts)
+2
3 years ago (2021-07-23)
First of all Welcome to YGS KaushikBhandary.

Anyway thank you for sharing your story. I am intrigued by other cultures and beliefs on spirits or entities. Can you explain more about what is a Maasthi? I'm genuinely curious.

Thank you and God Bless.

Darriux
talib (58 posts)
 
3 years ago (2021-07-08)
Good to see moderates approving a story from India after a very long time
KaushikBhandary (1 stories) (4 posts)
+3
3 years ago (2021-07-04)
Hi lady-glow.

I didn't mean the disrespect anyone or anything. I shared what my grandfather narrated. On the other hand Maasthi are spirits of people who are attached to earthly desires and refuse to leave. Masthi doesn't have any gender, they metaphor into the opposite gender of the victim. I don't really know about other places but in india we have diverse cultures and in each culture it has different depictions for things. In my culture i.e tulunadu we believe and name these things such and have our ways to deal with it. Like I said there isn't gender typical guidelines for such things even if you are women, child, man whatever here people follow that. And such incidents happen in remote areas and not cities.
KaushikBhandary (1 stories) (4 posts)
+2
3 years ago (2021-07-04)
Hi Steve

I ll be posting many such stories mostly which are of my family and ancestoral house. By the way you can't out run a maasthi, they say Maasthi has the tendancy to make you run in a loop, you might be right inform of your house but still won't see it. Hence they say that you should run away from a maasthi
KaushikBhandary (1 stories) (4 posts)
+2
3 years ago (2021-07-04)
Hi rajine

There are a lot of such things which even I don't know, this specific thing about urinating and getting naked is known by most of the people in tulunadu. Maasthi is usually a spirit which likes to irritate and cause nuisance to people. In very rare instances they possess people.
Rajine (14 stories) (904 posts)
+3
3 years ago (2021-06-22)
Hi kaushik

I've noticed that spirits like hanging out in dark wooded areas, I've never heard about the urinating part but I know fire keeps away unwanted spirits from attaching itself to someone.
Sleeping-with-steve (guest)
+3
3 years ago (2021-06-22)
Hello KaushikBhandary,

I really enjoy hearing about different types of encounters, this one was especially intriguing. I've never heard of a Maasthi, 'wandering spirit'. I googled it and all that came up was a movie entitled, 'Maasthi Gudi'. 😕

Regardless, you covered what it was and that it followed your grandfather. He must have been really scared. I wouldn't take my clothes of though, I'd just run.

I would enjoy reading more of your families experiences. Please submit more when you have time.

Thank you for sharing this post with us.

LadyGlow, I have used up my votes for you and can't vote for you until I vote for a few other members. 😟

Best wishes,
😘
lady-glow (16 stories) (3197 posts)
+6
3 years ago (2021-06-21)
It's possible that the Maasthi thought that your grandfather was a crazy and, perhaps, addicted man and didn't want to get close to him... I'm of the opinion that, when it comes to people, the living are usually more dangerous than the dead ones.

Hi Kaushik.

Welcome to YGS.

This is an interesting belief but, are Maasthi dangerous or innocuous spirits? Is it necessary to be aggressive towards them? What if the spirit wandering that stretch of the road is only a lost soul in need of help finding it's way to the next plane of existence?

Do you know what a guru or any other spiritual leader would do if informed that a maasthi is haunting a place? Is there another way to remove them from this realm, other than urinating and removing ones clothes? Are women expected to act the same way as men in the presence of these spirits? What about praying, would it help?

Do people behave the same way in larger cities? If the answer is yes, wouldn't they be accused of indecent exposure? If so, would any charges be dropped as soon as the individual says that they were acting like that because a maasthi was after them?

I hope you don't mind all my questions, I find your account fascinating and intriguing, not only the paranormal part but the cultural background too.

Thanks for sharing.

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